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<p>Understanding the forces modulating the intraspecific correspondence between trophic niche and functional morphology is key to predicting how species may respond to climate change. Despite a strong diet–morphology correspondence being a common assumption of niche models, we still know little about how functional morphology predicts trophic niche within species. Here, we found that the relatively high and temporally consistent individual trophic specialization in <i>Urotrygon rogersi</i> was not driven by body size and sex. On the contrary, jaw shape and function were affected by sex and locality. These morphological changes occurred along the <i>Z</i>-axis, which underscores the importance of quantifying three-dimensional phenotypic variation within species. These morphofunctional differences could be driven by evolutionary and/or developmental constraints or represent advantages for both reproductive processes and the processing of prey items found in different substrates. Contrary to the diet-morphology correspondence found in fish species from species-poor communities and environments with relatively predictable prey dynamics, our results support theoretical expectations and findings of recent experimental studies suggesting that interindividual differences in digestive performance or behavior might have a more significant role than trophic morphology in driving patterns of intraspecific trophic variation in environments with high variability in prey dynamics and species-rich communities.</p>

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Decoupled intraspecific variation in diet and functional morphology in a benthic marine predator

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月24日

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  • Esteban Galindo,
  • Raul Costa-Pereira,
  • Víctor Hugo Cruz-Escalona,
  • María Verónica Morales-Zárate,
  • José Tavera,
  • César Augusto Salinas-Zavala,
  • Andrés F. Navia

摘要

Understanding the forces modulating the intraspecific correspondence between trophic niche and functional morphology is key to predicting how species may respond to climate change. Despite a strong diet–morphology correspondence being a common assumption of niche models, we still know little about how functional morphology predicts trophic niche within species. Here, we found that the relatively high and temporally consistent individual trophic specialization in Urotrygon rogersi was not driven by body size and sex. On the contrary, jaw shape and function were affected by sex and locality. These morphological changes occurred along the Z-axis, which underscores the importance of quantifying three-dimensional phenotypic variation within species. These morphofunctional differences could be driven by evolutionary and/or developmental constraints or represent advantages for both reproductive processes and the processing of prey items found in different substrates. Contrary to the diet-morphology correspondence found in fish species from species-poor communities and environments with relatively predictable prey dynamics, our results support theoretical expectations and findings of recent experimental studies suggesting that interindividual differences in digestive performance or behavior might have a more significant role than trophic morphology in driving patterns of intraspecific trophic variation in environments with high variability in prey dynamics and species-rich communities.